An alumnus of India`s prestigious National Institute of Design (NID), Shah evolved a eager hobby with inside the conventional craft capabilities of indigenous artisans and travelled throughout India, to the remotest corners, to study the weaving, dyeing, printing, embroidery and ornamentation strategies practiced via way of means of special communities.
Shah commenced her personal garb line, Bandhej, which specializes in conventional fabric capabilities, and gives a number eco-friendly, handmade garb for women. In 1985, she opened her first store. In 2013, Shah posted her first ee-e book, Shifting Sands, Kutch: A Land in Transition. The ee-e book is an final results of her travels thru Kutch, an affiliation considering the fact that 1976 with the land, the human beings and their textiles.
She is an avid vacationer even today. Her today’s ee-e book, `Crafting A Future – Stories of Indian Textiles and Sustainable Practices` (posted via way of means of Niyogi Books) is the end result of her many travels at some point of the period and breadth of the united states of america to illustrate the variety and real price of India`s handmade fabric processes.
Padma ShriLailaTyabji, social worker, designer, writer, and craft activist and one of the founders of Dastkar, a Delhi-primarily based totally non-governmental organization, running for the revival of conventional crafts in India, writes in her foreword to the ee-e book – “This is a scholarly ee-e book, now no longer a informal coffee-desk communication piece, however it’s also a riveting travelogue… The thread jogging thru the ee-e book is her [Shah`s] deep love and knowledge of our textiles, and the individuals who craft them, in addition to the sector`s top notch variety and splendour.”
